Having spent so much time in this marina, we thought we should put a picture of where we were. There was no where to walk here except to the restaurant, gift shop or the showers--so we walked this dock alot! Nearest town was about 6 miles and the road to it was narrow with a lot of fast traffic so that no one recommended we take our bikes on it. Consequently, we walked up and dow the driveway several times a day....fun huh? The restaurant did have good food and believe it or not-a great grouper sandwich.
The mechanic Shane finally got the last part in on Friday. He installed it, took the sea trial with us and checked everything again and gave us the okay to go. 
Here is the Starved Rock and the dam on the right. This place is where some Native Americans took a stand, but their food supply was cut off at the bottom of the bluff and they eventually starved....thus, the name. It is now a part of park which stretches along the river. We were able to get right in to the lock and go through quickly---we were the only boat--we must be bringing up the rear.
We tried to anchor a couple places that loopers ahead of us had recommended but we found that the water was too shallow...they were a couple weeks ahead of us and no doubt had been traveling when the water was higher. Anyway, we stopped at this interesting marina...where we found 3 other loopers ! These barges line the entrance to the harbor which is deep and large enough for maneuvering. But there was quite a collection of an old riveboat restaurant which the owner thought he would fix up at one time (but that has since gone by the wayside) and other old stuff and barges. Owner was an interesting person and all were very friendly.
The old riverboat....
This shows the boat "Joyful Spirit" from Naples in the entrance of the harbor after us... what a collection of "stuff" !!!
On the Illinois River, we saw many of the jumping carp which have gotten into the river system...these gulls would follow our boat hoping to get something to eat..
Approaching Peoria, IL...
The replica of the Nina was docked here and is making its way from port to port.
And of course, here's the Spirit of Peoria riverboat.
Much of the southern part of the Illinois was pretty but also pretty boring. There were woods...
and places were barges were loading and a few parks, boat launches. Again, not being able to get into areas where we could anchor, we ended up tying up the the wall in Beardstown. While we were practically sitting on the bottom, it was free.
The mechanic Shane finally got the last part in on Friday. He installed it, took the sea trial with us and checked everything again and gave us the okay to go. Here is the Starved Rock and the dam on the right. This place is where some Native Americans took a stand, but their food supply was cut off at the bottom of the bluff and they eventually starved....thus, the name. It is now a part of park which stretches along the river. We were able to get right in to the lock and go through quickly---we were the only boat--we must be bringing up the rear. We tried to anchor a couple places that loopers ahead of us had recommended but we found that the water was too shallow...they were a couple weeks ahead of us and no doubt had been traveling when the water was higher. Anyway, we stopped at this interesting marina...where we found 3 other loopers ! These barges line the entrance to the harbor which is deep and large enough for maneuvering. But there was quite a collection of an old riveboat restaurant which the owner thought he would fix up at one time (but that has since gone by the wayside) and other old stuff and barges. Owner was an interesting person and all were very friendly.The old riverboat....This shows the boat "Joyful Spirit" from Naples in the entrance of the harbor after us... what a collection of "stuff" !!! On the Illinois River, we saw many of the jumping carp which have gotten into the river system...these gulls would follow our boat hoping to get something to eat..Approaching Peoria, IL...The replica of the Nina was docked here and is making its way from port to port.And of course, here's the Spirit of Peoria riverboat. Much of the southern part of the Illinois was pretty but also pretty boring. There were woods...and places were barges were loading and a few parks, boat launches. Again, not being able to get into areas where we could anchor, we ended up tying up the the wall in Beardstown. While we were practically sitting on the bottom, it was free.
